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Items & item states

An item is one physical, usually RFID-tagged, instance of a SKU. It always sits at exactly one Place in the location tree. It can optionally be linked to a Person (who holds or is responsible for it) and to a parent item (for nested assemblies).

The most important thing to understand about items is their state: an item is always in exactly one state, and that state drives what operations are available on it.

State families​

Item states divide into two families — Free pool (no order owns the item) and Order-owned (an order controls the item) — plus the special Consumed state.

FamilyStateBadgeMeaning
Free poolPresentGreenSeen where expected in the latest scan
Free poolMovedBluePhysically relocated from its assigned place
Free poolMissingRedExpected at its place but not found in the latest scan
Free poolClearedGreyManually removed from counting scope
Free poolRestored—Brought back from Consumed; returned to the free pool
Order-ownedAllocatedOrangePicked for an outbound or transfer order
Order-ownedReservedOrangeHeld for a loan order
Order-ownedDispatchedGreySent from the source place
Order-ownedReceivedGreyArrived at the destination place
Order-ownedOnLoanGreyCurrently out on a loan order
Order-ownedReturnedGreyLoan returned
SpecialConsumedGreyUsed up or sold; excluded from lists by default

Where states appear in the portal​

The Items list has a State column that renders each state as a coloured badge:

Items list showing demo items with Present (green) State badges

By default the list excludes Consumed items. The dropdown in the table footer lets you switch between the two views:

Exclude Consumed / Include Consumed dropdown open

The Item State History page tracks every state change for a given item over time, with timestamp and actor. This feature is on the product roadmap.

State transition overview​

Simplified — the full transition matrix is in the API documentation.

Rules operators feel​

  • Items on active orders cannot be deleted. An item in Allocated, Reserved, Dispatched, or OnLoan state is controlled by an order — deletion is blocked until the order is completed or cancelled.
  • Stocktakes count the free pool. Stocktakes count Present, Moved, Missing, Cleared, and Restored items, plus order-terminal states (Received, Returned). In-progress order-owned states (Allocated, Reserved, Dispatched, OnLoan) and Consumed items are excluded from stocktake counts.
  • Orders flip states automatically. Allocating an outbound order moves eligible items from Present → Allocated; dispatching moves them to Dispatched; completing receipt moves them to Received and eventually back to Present at the destination. See Orders at a glance for a full walkthrough.
  • The only way out of Consumed is Restore. Use the Restore action on the item detail page to return a Consumed item to the free pool.

For the item lifecycle and state-transition REST API reference, see the Loca.fi API documentation.